SORNagain

What a way to end the year - finally got the doors back on my RRC! Since both lock barrels are busted, rather than replacing them the path of least resistance appeared to be to put central door locking motors in each door. Of course, nothing is ever that simple.... I have a central locking controller that came off another vehicle (originally from ebay - dead cheap). No surprise then, that the installation 'instructions' bear no resemblance to the unit in my hand. What I intended was that the motors in each door would be master actuators, so that moving the locks manually from the inside would be mirrored by the other door. Having made up the wiring harness with 5 wires to each actuator I now find that the controller doesn't seem to support the use of master actuators at all, unless I am missing some obvious. What I have got on the controller is a relay for unlocking and one for locking. Both these relays have volt-free change-over contacts. In order to get the unit to drive the motors, I have to connect the Normally Closed contacts of both relays to ground, and the Normally Open to 12V. The motors then connect to the common contacts of the relays. This drives the motors OK, but there are no inputs on the unit to monitor the status of the feedback switches on the actuators. Normal practice seems to be connecting the common of the feedback switches on the actuators to ground, and the other poles of the switches to the lock and unlock inputs of the controller (generally white & brown wires by the look of it). The controller I have has none of these inputs, so my question is this: Has anyone managed to get master actuators working on a unit like this one? I suspect that the unit I have is designed to be a universal fitting; providing access to all the relay contacts in preference to the lock & unlock inputs. I will most likely end up running the motors open loop, unless anone has any ideas....

I have used these extensively for charging 12v leisure batteries in horseboxes and the like, and they have proved very reliable. They do have a current limit for charging batteries along with themal protection. If you plan to run a single 12v battery it's probably not worth getting one in excess of 20A or so, since the battery would not charge at any more than this after the first few minutes anyway. Unless you want to run your loads too of course.

185mA at 240v is about 40W, so I guess it should be OK. The output of an inverter isn't quite the same as you get out of the mains, but if it hasn't blown up in the first few seconds it will most likely last forever! Rob

I'm guessing you didn't buy this one! Not sure how you can heatsink that one to get the full 3A since all the bits are surface mount. Edit:- actually the only thing that other listing does give you is a view of the underside, which shows a plane with loads of vias under the power devices. So a bit of aluminium with heatsink compound against this surface might do the trick. (with suitable insulator!)

Now that's more like it...I'm going to get one of those myself.

I can't bleed my clutch adequately other than with a pressure bleeder. I think it is because the pipe to the slave cylinder has a fairly wide bore, so by the time you have opened the bleed nipple and pressed the pedal etc the bubbles have risen back to where they started. With a pressure bleeder you can get a enough flow to force the bubbles out. Might be worth trying?

For 9 quid what have you got to lose? Last time I did mine it lasted about 2 years....just done it again and if it lasts half that time I will be happy. It's not too bad to do in situe, although you will lose most of your fluid when you take the old one out!

I wouldn't recommend 7812 regulators: At 1A they have a drop out voltage of 2 volts which means that as the input falls to 2 volts above the output they stop regulating.... Buy a switch mode power converter instead.

If you turn the balance right over to one side, or the fader fully to the front or rear, you may find some of the bass comes back. If this is the case then your speakers are wired out of phase, which is cancelling most of the bass out.... All you need to do is check all your plusses & minusses are the correct way round. Had this once in a John Deere tractor which was straight from the factory. Once I sorted it the difference was remarkable.

Newer LED's may have some doides included which always steer the current through the LED in the correct direction. Some do, some don't.

I have a lathe with a variable speed drive and have been considering the same sort of conversion because of excessive wear in the VSD mechanisim. However, I was just thinking of using a normal V belt (or two). Is there any reason you need some sort of synchronous drive that requires a toothed belt? A V belt can often provide a handy clutch should something foul the cutting tool. I have always found a slipping belt is better than a snapped one.... Edit...and yes I do think thats OK!

The explanation does make sense, but yes - what FF said ^^ !

That makes sense I guess. So they both still bounce, but they are hoping they don't both bounce open at the same time. I remain unconvinced!

Dual points? Isn't one set trouble enough? I would suggest that two of them makes it half as good rather than the other way around. The only way I can see that 2 of them would be beneficial is if they were connected in series - giving a better 'break'. They are however connected in parallel. (by an odd twist of fate I have one on my engine.) Go electronic - even the standard Rover electronic ignition has to be better that doesn't it?

I think you are going to struggle to find one of these, unless it's from waeco. The pin getting hot could equally be the fault of the lead as well as the socket, so you will have to replace both to be sure it will not happen again. It might be worth taking the fridge apart & fitting an alternative connector. If you do that, something like this *may* fit in the existing hole...but I don't know how much current the fridge takes... No crimping needed either!

I love it. It will provide a nice easy way to correct the speed reading when you have bigger wheels fitted. You going to have the gauges flick round to full scale and back when you first start it? Be rude not to.

I see. Had no idea the pressure changed that quickly. Looks great, I'm rather envious!

Wow that looks great! How does it drive? And....what are those 0.01R resistors for?

Not if I was using a 24v alternator no, but I'm planning to use a 12v one to give -12v. The positive of the alternator will be connected to the chassis, and the earth connection (which hopefuly I will have isolated by this point) will then give me -12v. Anyway sorry if this has turned into a hijacking - but I would keep the winch 24v!

I did consider that for a while, but there is not the same freedom to connect the loads without over charging/discharging one battery or the other. I could connect the ground of the second alternator to the positive of the first, but it still involves isolating the alternator, and I reckon the +/-12 arrangement is marginally safer.

Thumbs up for Furneaux Riddall - always had excellent service from them.

I am keen to obtain 24v for different reasons, but it is applicable to this application, I have a 24v Eberspacher, and have been considering adding a second alternator in order to run it. (I already have a second battery) My plan is to isolate the chassis of the second alternator and then connect it and the battery to obtain -12v (i.e the + of the second battery is connected to the chassis). Then it is easy to get 24v by connecting between the -12 and the existing +12 terminals. You can then also share additional 12v loads between the batteries, and there are no battery balancing issues. I would suggest that buying a second alternator & battery would be cheaper than another motor, and you get to keep the other benefits that 24v brings. You also get the output of 2 alternators while you are winching. I am nervous about physically isolating the case of the second alternator from the engine though (one false move with a spanner could be rather spectacular!), so the only option is to separate the bond internally. I have seen some alternators where this would be easy, and others in which it would not...... Anybody else done it this way or am I mad?

Mine is only a cheapie, so it looks like it's more due to that than the illumination! Very annoying though!

I find one of the most important factors in a work light is finding one that doesn't set off my welding visor. This rules out anything with a conventional lightbulb in it. The fluorescent ones do it to some extent, but the best seem to be the LED type. I got my last one from Aldi - you gotta love the way you can get an inspection light a couple of paces from the onions!

Depends what you intend to use the battery for I think. Silver calcium batteries need a higher charging voltage of 14.8 volts, so you may not be able to charge them fully. Ford have a 'smart charge' system on many of their vehicles, where the output voltage of the alternator is controlled by the ECU to accomplish this. As far as I know the pros & cons are as follows: Normal lead acid - has added antimony to strenghten the electrodes. Great for deep cycling but the antimony acts as a catalyst and cause the battery to use water. Lead + calcium - the calcium stops the water usage, but it is not as good for deep cycling as the normal type. Often labelled 'maintenence free' Lead + calcium + silver - the silver allows the battery to charge faster, by reducing the internal resistance. Might crank better too. Cycling ability the same though. As this wasn't complicated enough, there are hybrid types with antimony on one plate & calcium on the other! Given that there is a fair amount of maintenence involved in owning a landrover anyway, I would be inclined to stick to the standard type.